Darren Criss On Mourning Cory Monteith: "It's Only Right That We Start To Try To Smile Again"

The Glee cast is trying to move forward -- while keeping Cory Monteithclose in their hearts. While appearing on Conan on Thursday, August 1,Darren Crissremembered the late actor, acknowledging that it's been hard for everyone involved since Monteith's tragic July 13 death.

The 26-year-old explained, "Obviously it’s been a very rough time, but when you start picking up the pieces after something as tragic as this, we’re picking up the pieces now, and there’s two things you gotta remember about Cory."

"One is he was a really funny guy, had a great sense of humor, he loved life, and he always took care of his friends and wanted his friends to be happy," he continued. "So it’s only right that we start to try to smile again, try to laugh again, that's something he would've wanted."

Credit: Darren Criss talked about Cory Monteith on Aug. 1.

Looking up at the ceiling, the actor added, "He will be severely missed … but I'm just so happy a guy like him got to touch as many lives as he did while we are lucky enough to have him."

Criss' remarks come just after FOX Entertainment Chairman Kevin Reilly explained that the upcoming fifth season of the show would "deal directly" with Monteith's death of heroin and alcohol toxicity.

"The third episode will deal with the Finn Hudson character being written out of the show," Reilly announced, noting that he couldn't confirm whether Finn would die of an overdose. "What I will tell you is that that episode will deal directly with the incidents involved in Cory's passing and with the drug abuse in particular."